Apparatus for removing and replacing charging hole covers of coke ovens



Feb. 26, 1963 w. A. BOWMAN ETAL 3,079,007

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING AND REPLACING CHARGING HOLE COVERS 0F COKE OVENS5 Sheets-Sheet 1 d MMM 0 A R W ME n N W 0 r WO m N M r H A .w n 7 m m WE Filed Sept. 26, 1960 Feb. 26, 1963 w. A. BOWMAN ETAL 3,079,007

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING AND REPLACING CHARGING Filed Sept. 26, 1960 HOLECOVERS 0F COKE OVENS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,d mWMm .4 50mm W BWM A 4W W.

R A ER TAE My WEP l lfilw m m am 1 a 9m Feb. 26, 1963 w. A. BOWMAN ETAL3,0

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING AND REPLACING CHARGING HOLE COVERS OF COKE OVENS5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 26, 1960 Feb. 26, 1963 A. -BOWMAN ETALREMOVING AND 3,079,007 REPLACING CHARGING KE OVENS APPARATUS FOR HOLECOVERS 0F C0 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 26, 1960 Wm vN //V l/E/VTORSWAL TE A. BOWMAN, EDGAR m HUNTER and PE TE PAL UMBO By 9 Attorney Feb.26, 1963 w. A. BOWMAN ETAL 3,079,007

APPARATUS FOR movmc AND REPLACING CHARGING nous COVERS 0F COKE OVENSFiled Sept. 26, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS WAL 7'51? A. BOWMAN,EDGAR W HUNTER and PETA-:AL MB Attorney ice APPARATUS FDR REMGVWG ANDREPLACING CHARGING HGLE CU'i/IERS OE CURE @VENF: Waiter-A. Bowman,Pittsburgh,- EdgarW. Hunter, Finleyville, andPete Palnmbo, Bethcl Park,Pa, assignors to glnited States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Newrsey Filedseptaz, 196i), Ser. No. 58,360 6 Glaims. (Cl. 212-4)- Thisinvention relates towapparatus for removing and replacing charging 'holecovers of coke ovens. Thecoking coal is transferred-from the coke ovencoal bunker by a larry car. which runs .over the tops of the coke ovenbatteries. The coal is chargedto the individual ovens from bins-onthe'larry car through severalholes onthe top of each oven. Theholes arecovered with lids which previous to our invention were manually removedby a workman with the aid of hooked bars After the oven was charged andthe larry car moved from over the holes the lids were replaced by theworkman in the same manner. Because of the heat and the dirty conditionswhich exist on the top of coke oven batteries this work was diflicultand dangerous.

It. is therefore an object of our invention to provide apparatus forremoving and replacingcharging hole covers on coke ovens automatically.

This and other objectswill be more apparent after referring tothefollowing specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view showing a larry car with the apparatus of ourinvention incorporated thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is. a view taken on the line III-III of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view, similar to FIGURE 3, but showing the partsin greater detail;

FIGURE 5 is a view taken on the line VV of FIG- URE 4;

FIGURE 6- is a view taken on the line VIVI of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a view, similar to FIGURE 4, showing the linkage operationfor oscillating the cover plates;

FIGURE 8 is a view, similar to FIGURE 4, showing the linkage operationfor lifting and replacing the cover plates;

FIGURE 9 is a vertical section of the lifting head of our invention;

FIGURE 10 is a side elevation of FIGURE 9, with the tongs in closedposition;

FIGURE 11 is a view, similar to FIGURE 9', but showing the parts indifierent position;

FIGURE 12 is an isometric view showing a detail of the lifting head;

FIGURE 13 is a schematic 'view of the hydraulic system used in ourinvention;

FIGURE 14 is an elevation of the lid used to cover the hole in the cokeoven top.

Referring more particularly to the drawings reference numeral 2indicates the top of a coke oven having several holes 4 therein. A lid 6is provided for each of the holes and as shown in FIGURE 14 consists ofa flat plate portion 8 and a conical upper portion 10 connected by asquare stem 12 welded to each of the members 8 and 10. It will be seenthat the base of the cone 10 is larger than the cross section of thestem 12 so as to provide a shoulder 14 for a purpose which will appearlater. Rails 16 are provided on the top of the coke ovens for supportinga lar-ry car 18 shown in dash dot lines in FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3. A lidhandling device 20 is associated with each of the holes 4 of the cokeoven. Since the lid handling'devices are essentially alikezonly one willbe described inqdetail. A pair of brackets 22 are supportedfrom a beam24' forming part of the larry car, 18. Bearings 26' are attached-tothebearn 24 along the length thereof and support a longitudinal.- shaflt28. Each of thellid handling devices includes a T-shaped framev 30 whichis supported at the top thereof by means of a pair of links 32 keyed tothe shaft 28. Thebottom of. the frame 30 is pivotally connected toa pairof links 34; one atreach end thereof, links 34 being provided withbifurcated ends as shown with the other ends of the links beingpivotally connected to the bottom of brackets 22. A pair of bearings orpillow blocks 36 and 38 are supported on the frame 30in verticalalignment and rotatablysup port a rod. 40. The bottom ofthe rod 401'sconnected to a double universal joint 42 which in turn carries athreaded rod Mat its lower end; Tube 46 of a lifting head 48 issupported by the nod 44 with a spring 50 surrounding the rod 44 betweenthe universal joint 4-2 and the closed top of tube 46. A pair ofL-shaped arms 52 are pivotally mounted to the top of tube 46. U-shapedlugs 54 are welded to the tube 46 and limit-outward movement of the arms52. Alignednopenings 56 and 58 ore provided in the tube 46 and arms 52to receive linksotl', one pivot-ally attached-to each of thearms 52. Theinner ends of links 60 are pivotally connected-to each other and to aclevis 62by means of a pin 64-. The clevis 62 is attached to the bottomof a rod 66 which extends up wardly through the top of tube 46 with itsupper end being connected to a double acting hydraulic cylinder 68attached-to the rod 40=fior movement therewith. The shaft 28 is rotatedby means of a link 7% keyed thereto with free end of the link 70beingpivotally secured to the piston rod of a double acting cylinder 72'pivotally mounted on a bracket '74 mounted on the l-arry car 18 The rod40 is prevented from movingvertically with respect to member 34}- by'means of a collar 76- attached to the rod 40- beneath .the bearing 36and a clamp 73 secured to the rod 4! above thebearing 38. The. clamp 78is secured to a lever 80, the other end of which is pivotally connectedto a clevis 82 havinga stem 83 about which is pivotally supported oneend of a link 84; The other end of link 84 is pivotally connected to aclevis 86 which in turn is pivotally connected to a link 88 keyed toashaft 959. A plurality of bearings 92 are attached to the beam 24 on theside opposite bearings 26. The shaft is rotatably supported in thebearings 92. A link 94 is keyed to the shaft 9@ adjacent the center ofthe l-arrycar. A link 96 has one end pivotally connected to link 914 andits other end pivotally connected to a lever 98 pivotally mounted on ashaft Iii!) mounted in spaced beatings I02 supported by the larry car.Theother end of lever $8 is connected to the bottom end of aconnecting-rod $04; the upper end of which is connected to a crank 11%;-The crank 1% is driven by a motor N8 through a gear reducer 11-0. Asseen in FIGUREv 13 cylinders 68 are connected in parallel by means ofiieXi-ble tubing 112 and 11-4 to manifolds 116 and 118 which in turn areconnected to an oil power unit 120. The cylinder 72 is also connected tothe oil power unit 129.

In the operation of our device the larry car is moved along the cokeoven battery until it is positioned over the coke oven chamber to becharged with the lifting heads 48 spotted over the respective chargingholes 4. Fluid is introduced into the top of cylinders 68 so as to causethe arms 52 to move outwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 9. Fluidis then introduced into the top of cylinder '72 so as to cause all ofthe lifting heads 48 to move downwardly with the tubes 46 sliding dwnwardly over the cone 10 to the position shown in FIG- URE ll. Fluid isthen introduced into the bottom of the cylinder 68 so as to cause thearms 52 to move in- Patented'. Feb. 26, 1.963

wardly to the position shown in FIGURE 11. In this position the arms 52engage the non-circular stem 12. The motor 163 is then started inoperation to cause the shaft 96 to oscillate. Oscillation of shaft 9%causes the rods 46 to oscillate so that the lifting heads &3 and thelids 6 supported thereby oscillate to break the seal be tween the lidand the charging hole frame. Fluid is then introduced into the bottom ofcylinder '72, thus raising the lifting heads 48 and the lidsd. The larrycar 18 is then moved to position the bins of the larry car over theholes '4 and coal is discharged into the oven. After the oven is chargedthe lifting heads 43 and lids 6 are positioned over their respectiveholes 4 and fi-uid introduced into the top of cylinder 72 to lower thelids 6 into position. The motor 103 is then energized to causeoscillation of the lifting heads 43 to create a seal between the lidsand the slightly tapered charging hole frame. After the seal has beenformed, fluid is introduced into the top of cylinder 68 to release theclamping arms 52 after which fluid is introduced into the bottom ofcylinder 72 to raise the lifting heads 48. The larry car is then readyto repeat the cycle on another chamber to be charged.

While one embodiment iofour invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for handling coke oven charging hole covers having aconical portion spaced from and attached to the main portion of thecover by means of a non-circular stem which appanatus includes a car,the improvement which comprises a lifting head mounted on said car forvertical movement, said lifting head including a vertical tubular memberfor receiving the said conical portion and a pair of diametricallyopposed arms pivotally mounted on said tubular member for movement abouthorizontal axes, means for moving said arms about their axes from aposition in engagement With said stem to a position beyond said conicalportion, means for raising and lowering said lifting head, means topermit limited lateral movement of said lifting head into verticalalignment with said stem, and means for oscillating said lifting headabout a vertical axis.

2. In an apparatus for handling coke oven charging hole covers having aconical portion spaced from and attached to the main portion of thecover by means of a non-circular stem, which appanatus includes a car,the improvement which comprises a lifting head mounted on said car forvertical movement, said lifting head including a vertical tubular memberfor receiving the conical portion and a pair of diametrically opposedarms pivots-11y mounted on said tubular member for movement abouthorizontal axes, cans for moving said arms about their axes from aposition in engagement with said r stem to a position beyond saidconical portion, a generally vertical shaft attached to and extendingupwardly from said lifting head, universal joint means interposedbetween said lifting head and said vertical shaft, a support forrotatably supporting said shaft, means for raising and lowering saidsupport with the lifting head attached thereto, and means foroscillating said shaft.

3. In an apparatus for handling coke oven charging hole covers having aconical portion spaced from and attached to the main portion of thecover by means of a non-circular stem which apparatus includes a car,the improvement which comprises a plurality of spaced apart liftingheads mounted on said car for vertical movement, each of said liftingheads including a vertical tubular member for receiving the said conicalportion and a par of diametrically opposed pivotally mounted on saidtubular member for movement about horizontal axes, means for moving eachof said pairs of arms about their axes from a position in engagementwith one of said stems to a position beyond the associated conicalportion, means for raising and lowering said lifting heads, means topermit limited lateral movement of said lifting heads into verticalalignment with the stem of the covers, and means for simultaneouslyoscillating said lifting heads about their vertical axes.

4. In an apparatus for handling coke oven charging hole covers having aconical portion spaced from and attached to the main portion of thecover by means of a non-circular stem which apparatus includes a car,the improvement which comprises a plurality of spaced apart liftingheads, each of said lifting heads including a vertical tubular memberfor receiving the conical portion and a pair of diametrically opposedarms pivotally mounted on said tubular member for movement abouthorizontal axes, means for moving each of said pair of arms about theiraxes from a position in engagement with one of said stems to a positionbeyond the associated conical portion, a generally vertical shaftattached to and extending upwardly from each of said lifting heads,universal joint means interposed between each lifting head and itsvertical shaft, :3. support for rotatably supporting each of saidshafts, means for simultaneously raising and lowering said supports withthe lifting head attached tllilereto, and means for simultaneouslyoscillating said 5 afts.

5. In a car for handling coke oven charging hole covers the improvementwhich comprises a lifting head mounted on said car for verticalmovement, means for selectively causing said lifting head to engage anddisengage the covers, means for raising and lowering said lifting head,means for oscillating said lifting head about a vertical axis, and meansto permit limited lateral movement of said lifting head independently ofsaid car for alignment of said head centrally on the cover it ishandling.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said last named means includes a shaftcarried by said car and universal joint means operably interconnectingsaid shaft and said lifting head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSchra-mm Dec. 6, 1938

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COKE OVEN CHARGING HOLE COVERS HAVING ACONICAL PORTION SPACED FROM AND ATTACHED TO THE MAIN PORTION OF THECOVER BY MEANS OF A NON-CIRCULAR STEM WHICH APPARATUS INCLUDES A CAR,THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A LIFTING HEAD MOUNTED ON SAID CAR FORVERTICAL MOVEMENT, SAID LIFTING HEAD INCLUDING A VERTICAL TUBULAR MEMBERFOR RECEIVING THE SAID CONICAL PORTION AND A PAIR OF DIAMETRICALLYOPPOSED ARMS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID TUBULAR MEMBERS FOR MOVEMENTABOUT HORIZONTAL AXES, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID ARMS ABOUT THEIR AXES FROMA POSITION IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID STEM TO A POSITION BEYOND SAIDCONICAL PORTION MEANS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING SAID LIFTING HEAD, MEANSTO PERMIT LIMITED LATERAL MOVEMENT OF SAID LIFTING HEAD INTO VERTICALALIGNMENT WITH SAID STEM AND MEANS FOR OSCILLATING SAID LIFTING HEADABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS.